Rail infrastructure is not devolved, and despite representing around 5% of total UK population, Wales has received less than 2% of UK rail enhancement funding in recent years.
Big rail projects like HS2, Northern Powerhouse and East-West Rail have all been classified as ‘England and Wales’ projects, despite not a single centimetre of track being laid in Wales. We receive no consequential funding from these projects, while Scotland and Northern Ireland do.
This Great Welsh Train Robbery has made investing in Wales’s railways and wider transport network extremely challenging.
We will fight for the rail funding we are owed and that we need to invest in Welsh rail – including £4bn in consequential funding from HS2 – and for rail to be devolved.
At the same time, we will bring forward a renewed pipeline of short, medium and long-term rail projects in Wales. We will ensure that new rail infrastructure is designed and delivered to maximise accessibility, and full integration with bus services and active travel options.
While we know the kind of transformation we really need in Welsh rail can only come with Wales’s fair share of funding, we are clear on our most immediate rail priorities.
The work on delivering these priorities can and will begin now, and we will make sure that everything is in place to accelerate it once we have secured the better, fairer deal on rail infrastructure that Wales deserves.
Over the next Senedd term, this pipeline of rail projects will include:
- Better and more frequent everyday services in South East Wales, including increasing service frequencies to 4 trains per hour to and from Cardiff to the Heads of the Valleys via Pontypridd and Caerphilly, and 2 trains per hour on the Maesteg branch and the Vale of Glamorgan Line beyond Barry.
- Cardiff Crossrail Phase 2 – including enabling 4 trains per hour on the Cardiff City and Coryton Lines, electrification and tram-trains for Penarth, Station Link and additional stations.
- Ongoing development on the South Wales Main Line, including phased electrification and new services with reduced journey times between Carmarthen and London.
- Increasing capacity in North Wales – building on new direct services between Llandudno and Liverpool with improvements to the North Wales Main Line from Chester to Holyhead and increasing service frequencies between Wrexham and Chester.
- Upgrading signals and new passing loops to increase capacity on the Welsh Marches Line.
Ensuring fair treatment for all parts of Wales, and to strengthen connectivity within Wales as well as cross-border links, we will also:
- Advance plans to complete Cardiff Crossrail and for further expansion of the Metro in South East Wales.
- Bring forward plans for Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro Phase 1 – making the Metro tangible with named rail interventions (on service frequency, line-speed and stations) that will improve everyday commuting and access to services in South West Wales.
- Progress options for a new rail corridor in North West Wales, and for North-South rail connectivity.
- Explore the feasibility of new rail connections in West Wales, including re-opening the Amman Valley Line.
We will work with TfW on developing a new, simpler and fairer fare structure and fare capping for train journeys in Wales.